Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A device for terahertz signal generation, comprising: a plurality of oscillators arranged in a two-dimensional array, each oscillator having an input, an antenna line, and an output, and wherein each oscillator has a fundamental frequency that is substantially the same as the other oscillators; a plurality of antennae, each antenna being connected to the antenna line of a corresponding oscillator of the plurality of oscillators; a plurality of unidirectional phase shifters, each phase shifter connected between adjacent oscillators of the plurality of oscillators from the output of an oscillator to the input of an adjacent oscillator; wherein each oscillator is connected to each adjacent oscillator in the array by at least one phase shifter, the input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as the corresponding output, and the input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as each input of the other oscillators of the plurality of oscillators; and wherein each phase-shifter comprises a plurality of varactors configured to vary the phase shift according to a varying capacitance of the varactors to steer a signal generated by the array.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein each oscillator is a cross-coupled pair of transistors.
3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the coupled pair includes a first transistor and a second transistor, and wherein: a first transmission line connects a gate of the first transistor to a drain of the second transistor; a second transmission line connects a gate of the second transistor to a drain; and a third transmission line connects the drain of the first transistor to the drain of the second transistor.
4. The device of claim 1 , wherein each phase shifter comprises a transmission line having a first end connected to the output of an oscillator and a second end connected to the input of an oscillator, and wherein the first end is impedance-matched to the connected oscillator.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein each phase-shifter is a resonator.
6. The device of claim 5 , wherein a center frequency of each resonator is tuned to the fundamental frequency of the oscillators.
7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the phase shifters are tuned to maximize a voltage swing and an outgoing coupled energy.
8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the antenna is tuned to a fourth harmonic of the fundamental frequency.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the antenna is a patch antenna.
10. A method for generating a steerable terahertz signal, comprising: providing an array of oscillators, each oscillator connected to an antenna, wherein each oscillator is unidirectionally connected to each adjacent oscillator of the array by at least one phase shifter, an input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as a corresponding output of such oscillator, and the input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as each input of the other oscillators of the plurality of oscillators, and wherein each phase-shifter comprises a plurality of varactors configured to vary the phase shift according to a varying capacitance of the varactors; generating a terahertz signal having a fundamental frequency using the array; and varying a phase shift of one or more of the phase shifters to vary the fundamental frequency and steer the signal generated by the array.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of generating the terahertz signal having a fundamental frequency comprises the sub-step of providing a phase shift in each of the phase shifters to lock each oscillator to the fundamental frequency.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the fundamental frequency of the signal is varied by equally varying the phase shift of the phase shifters.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the signal is steered by differentially varying the phase shifts of at least a subset of the phase shifters.
14. A device for terahertz signal generation, comprising: a plurality of oscillators arranged in a two-dimensional array, each oscillator having an input, an antenna line, and an output, and wherein each oscillator has a fundamental frequency that is substantially the same as the other oscillators; a plurality of antennae, each antenna being connected to the antenna line of a corresponding oscillator of the plurality of oscillators; and a plurality of unidirectional phase shifters, each phase shifter connected between adjacent oscillators of the plurality of oscillators from the output of an oscillator to the input of an adjacent oscillator, and wherein each phase-shifter is a resonator, wherein a signal generated by the array is steerable by varying a phase shift of one or more phase shifters of the plurality of phase shifters; wherein each oscillator is connected to each adjacent oscillator in the array by at least one phase shifter, the input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as the corresponding output, and the input of each oscillator being connected to an equivalent number of phase shifters as each input of the other oscillators of the plurality of oscillators.
15. The device of claim 14 , wherein each oscillator is a cross-coupled pair of transistors.
16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the coupled pair includes a first transistor and a second transistor, and wherein: a first transmission line connects a gate of the first transistor to a drain of the second transistor; a second transmission line connects a gate of the second transistor to a drain; and a third transmission line connects the drain of the first transistor to the drain of the second transistor.
17. The device of claim 14 , wherein each phase shifter comprises a transmission line having a first end connected to the output of an oscillator and a second end connected to the input of an oscillator, and wherein the first end is impedance-matched to the connected oscillator.
18. The device of claim 14 , wherein each phase-shifter comprises a plurality of varactors configured to vary the phase shift according to a varying capacitance of the varactors.
19. The device of claim 14 , wherein a center frequency of each resonator is tuned to the fundamental frequency of the oscillators.
20. The device of claim 14 , wherein the phase shifters are tuned to maximize a voltage swing and an outgoing coupled energy.
21. The device of claim 14 , wherein the antenna is tuned to a fourth harmonic of the fundamental frequency.
22. The device of claim 14 , wherein the antenna is a patch antenna.
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February 22, 2022
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